There are many disadvantages to being left-handed, something both your’s truly and Cleveland Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson are well aware of. The latter decided to do something about it, though, as he’s apparently decided to make the switch to shooting both jumpers and free-throws with his right hand instead of his left.

The big man showed off his new skillset this week while playing for the Canadian National Team in a friendly scrimmage against Jamaica, but he’d been working on making the switch for awhile according to SportsNet’s Michael Grange.

“I was in Phoenix (last November) and I just started shooting right-handed and got a lot of compliments on it,” Thompson said this week while in training camp with the Canadian national team.

It’s baffling that he could just decide to shoot with his other hand and get compliments on it — nobody wants to watch this writer do anything on the basketball court with his right hand — but Thompson was still uneasy about making the switch to what had previously been considered his off-hand.

“At first I didn’t want to do it. I got to the NBA shooting right-handed, but then I thought about it and at the end of the day I want to be the best player I can be for the Cavaliers and the best player I can be for myself and if that takes me making an adjustment in my jump shot or anything else, why not make that switch?”

The reasons to not make the switch is because that decision is a historic one: Hall of Famer Jerry Colangelo told Grange that he’s never heard of anyone doing it during his time in basketball and Thompson himself says that he thinks “it’s the first time ever in NBA history” for someone to make the switch mid-career.

Thompson made just 40 percent of his attempts away from the rim this past season (according to HoopsData’s information), a disappointing amount when considering that meant he made just 144 of his 360 attempts from the field. It wasn’t much prettier from the free-throw line, either, as he shot below 60 percent on 282 attempts in his second NBA season.

It’ll be interesting to see what sort of impact switching hands will have on Thompson’s game at the NBA level, but he says it’s made him much more confident in his shooting ability. And, as long as that shooting ability doesn’t continue to float around 40 percent from the field, everyone should benefit from Thompson’s decision to leave the lefties.

Only reason I can think of, and it’s not a great one, is that you’re taught to close out with the opposite hand: left on a righty, right on a lefty. Players seem to always close out with their right, however. So generally, left handed shooters get closed out on better.

He just has tot work his ass off at it. its not all that hard to shoot with both hands. I can hit hook shots from anywhere on the floor 12 feet and in with both hands as well as shoot set jump shots with both hands. a number of NBA players can as well

I’m not trying to act like I’m the next Lebron or anything, but I’m left handed and I dominate right handed players most of the time because they never know which way I’m going to go and they always try to defend my right side. It’s too easy.